


Slow Drift

by Lunarflare14



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Drift Compatibility, F/M, The Drift (Pacific Rim)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 16:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2739788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarflare14/pseuds/Lunarflare14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dragon Age Inquisition/Pacific Rim crossover</p><p>AKA</p><p>The AU where some demons coming through the breach are the size of skyscrapers and the Inquisition build themselves some giant magic mechs. The Inquistor has trouble finding a drift partner, until she isn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow Drift

Inquisitor Jilliana had been trying without success for several months to find a suitable partner to pilot the Jaeger with. Everything would be going great and then they'd get to the neural handshake and BAM. Dorian was close enough for them to coupe but the Inquisitor found using the mark impossible while connected to him. 

They had two other Jaegers with pilot sets. Cole and Varric piloted Quiet Stone and worked well. That surprised no one except maybe Cole. Solas had looked almost jealous at first but he was the one who had refused to even think about drifting with anyone. Iron Bull and Krem drifted like they were born to do it and had been an obvious choice. They named the Jaeger Iron Dragon. Apparently it was because Iron Bull was regretting his own choice of names of late.

"I'm never going to find a proper drift partner, am I?" She asked Dagna as she watched the dwarf tinker with the design. She was sitting on the back of a chair at the desk with her feet on the seat, staring down at the pile of books and parchment. Dagna was the chief smith behind the project, with Vivienne as her magical support. 

The dwarf shrugged. "It's all about the chemistry. I think Cole said it already—you shine too bright. It’s easy for you to overwhelm a partner without even trying. The only reason Dorian works with you at all is because you have some connection _and_ his magical ability is probably one of the strongest in the group. Vivienne might have worked if she wasn’t so… reserved, even when she obviously cares for you… in her own Vivienne sort of way. I’m sure it’s just a—”

Suddenly, Jilliana perked up and moments later, the door to the Undercroft opened. "Inquisitor?" Cullen ducked his head in before entering completely. "How goes it?"

Jilliana sighed. "Tiresome as always. If Dagna can't figure out why I'm not drift compatible with literally ANYONE, then I'm doomed. She's the one who retrofitted the Grey Warden's designs so they could also be piloted by nonmages-- if I could just  _find a partner_." Dagna slipped away as Cullen came forward to the Inquisitor's side. The table in front of them was covered in schematics and research. Turned out, Jilliana's time at the Circle was paying off because she was a master of research. 

"Who haven't we tried?" he asked, leaning cautiously against the table.

"Well, pretty much everyone who already has a partner. Sera, but she won't set foot in a Jaeger. Solas and Blackwall outright refuse and won't tell anyone why. All the other people I know aren't even worth looking into."

Cullen frowned deeply. “I’m sure it’s just—“

“Ugh. It’s always ‘just’. Just barely holding on, only just made it in time, just a matter of chemistry.” Jilliana laced her fingers in her hair and pulled a little in frustration. “I’m so tired of being useless.” Letting her head go and looking up, she saw Cullen’s look of concern. “I’m s—“

He cut her off. “No, no, it’s alright. I know the feeling. I’m stuck having to watch as my men go up against creatures of evil so massive they can block out the sun for a mile at the right time of day. I understand useless.”

With a sigh she stood and headed for the door. Cullen fell in time behind her and as they reached the exit Dagna called out. “Wait!” Both stopped and turned to the arcanist. “I know how to fix you’re problem. Meet me at the Jaeger.” She shot past them and headed towards the entrance to the cavern where they housed the Jaegers. “Bring the war council with you, too.”

The Inquisitor and her General looked at each other, confused but excited.

The cavern had a neural handshake device that wasn’t attached to a Jaeger so they could test compatibility. The Inquisitor brought Josephine and Leliana down, meeting Dagna and Cullen by the device. “Alright, so you know how you’ve tested pretty much everyone, right?”

Jilliana nodded. “Uh, yeah.”

Dagna grinned wickedly and gestured to the council. “You haven’t tried any of them.”

Josephine burst into laughter and Leliana frowned deeply before hiding a smile behind her hand.

Jilliana knew she was probably bright red at that point. Sure, she thought about it, but Josephine wasn’t a warrior, and Leliana guarded her secrets so tightly that she would never permit it. Which made the obvious choice—if her partner was actually on the war council—Cullen.

There were things in her head she did not want Cullen to see—things that could break her; he was a Templar, they didn’t know each other very well, he was stupidly handsome, and... you get the idea. But when she finally plucked up the courage to look at him, there was a tinge of fear in his eyes. After he so badly had wanted to help, Dagna was giving him a chance. What did he have to fear?

It was true they didn’t know each other well, but they were becoming friends, of a sort. At least she hoped they were.

Josephine spoke up first. “So we’re just going to skip to the handshake? Not run the drills or anything?”

Dagna nodded. “Other people have run the drills and were still incompatible with our Inquisitor. At this point, it’s a waste of time to have you guys fight it out.”

Jilliana found she really wanted to know. “Alright. What could it hurt? I trust you all with my life. What’s a little handshake between friends?” They all nodded somberly. “Any volunteers?”

Leliana nodded. “Cullen should go first.”

Jilliana glared at her spymaster but Dagna nodded. “He’s the warrior, so he’s probably got the best shot.”

Cullen sighed, but straightened. “Alright. I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

Together they stepped onto the platform. Trying not to look at each other and failing. She put on her helmet and gave him a thumbs up. “You ready?”

Cullen nodded beneath the helm. “Ready.”

Dagna turned some knobs and started the machine. “Neural handshake in five, four, three—“

Jilliana gave Cullen one last look. “See you in the Drift.”

“One!”

And the world fell away around them.

 _It was not like the other times she drifted. Images and sounds didn’t flash across her mind like lightning in the dark. All she saw around her was pitch black and she knew, she_ knew _something was wrong. It was throbbing in her bones how horribly off her surroundings felt. “Cullen!” She called into the darkness._

“The link is failing!” _She heard Josephine’s voice echo through the black._

“Andraste's left ti--give them a minute. Remember how long it took for Varric and Cole to stabilize? They can do this.”

_Jilliana laughed. “I wish I had your confidence.”_

_Somewhere behind her was a whimper and she turned. Cullen was behind a barrier, kneeling on the ground, clutching his head. Above him was a women with flowing brown hair and golden eyes. She glowed an unnatural purple. He was mutter under his breath and shaking. “She’s not real. She’s not here. She can’t be. She’s dead. She’s dead. She’s dead.”_

_“Cullen!”_

_Cullen’s head snapped up. “Jilly,” he whispered so low she almost didn’t hear. “What are you—“_

_The woman glared at her, eyes flaring with purple fire. Her face morphed, changing shape rapidly and not settling on anything solid. “You cannot have him, pretender. He is mine.”_

_She stepped forward, resolve set. “She’s not real, Cullen. Don’t chase the rabbit. Come back to me.”_

_“Solana is dead. She died in the blight. I never told her. I never told her I was sorry.”_

_Jilly walked through the barrier as if it were nothing and it all fell away. Suddenly, they were in the Ostwick Circle library. She forgot what she was doing as a Templar, young with too broad shoulders and a forced grin came up to her. “Hear the news, Red? The Circle is rebelling. We can all go home.” Jilliana clutched at the book she was holding. She could swear she heard her name being called from far away. “You alright?”_

_“I’m fine, Iago. Just… distracted.” She stared in his jade eyes. “I suppose you’ll be leaving then? Heading home?”_

_He shrugged. “Fighting is gonna spread. Gotta protect my family.”_

_She sighed. “Right. Yeah. Good luck to you.”_

_“Same to you, Red.”_

_He turned and walked away and she knew, in her heart she would never see him again. The echoing voice asked. “What happened to him?”_

_She knew. Flashes of fire and lots of pain. “Attacked… mages. He was burned alive.”_

_“Jilly.” Suddenly, Cullen was by her side as the library fell away. His hand was on her shoulder and she literally felt it click._

_That was so long ago. How had she forgotten how long ago that was? Suddenly images started coming and passing over her; quiet lake, move that piece there and it’s hers, Solana, her name was Solana, Hero to Fereldan, Kirkwall, I could have done more, I should have done more, surrounded by peers and friends but somehow alone, the lyrium leaves a hollowness, if you held me up to your ear you could hear the ocean, blue eyes, don’t look twice, don’t think twice, I live to serve, she’s alive, thank the maker, she’s alive, there’s a woman I could follow, there’s one I would give my life for…_

_I have seen the dawn._

“The link is stabilizing... More than that. It's solid. This is the strongest I've ever seen a first attempt! I've got to write this down!”

_Everything in Jilliana sang because this was what she had imagined the link to feel like. One heartbeat, one song, one voice. They fit so well, so perfectly snug, there was no beginning or end of them._

Suddenly they were back in the cavern and panting, looking at each other. And she knows he knows what she saw and they’re grinning like mad fools and she has the intense need to hold his hand.

“We’re drift compatible.” They say it in unison. For that moment they’re not two people but one, though they’re slowly peeling themselves away from each other. Finding themselves again after fitting so seamlessly together. For just one moment there is nothing else in the world.

Dagna looked infinitely smug.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't know if I'm going to continue this or not but for now lets pretend it's complete, ya?


End file.
